Right To Remain Silent
by Forever-Diamonds
Summary: It's 2024, and the world has been aware of the supernatural for eleven years. Superintendent Damon Salvatore's world is turned upside down by a chance discovery that leaves him shocked, confused and head over heels in love...
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

**A/N: I know, I know, I'm insane, but I had an epiphany in the car on the way back from London and well, y'know, it just had to be written down. This is a future fic, set in 2024, making Damon at least 180 years old. For the purposes of this, I'm making him 22, meaning he was born in 1842, and this age will apply to all of my other fics. Delena as usual, of course. That said, enjoy! R&R**

_The Laws_

_A vampire must not kill a human_

_A vampire must not turn a human against their will_

_A vampire must not feed on a human against their will_

_A vampire must not compel a human unless it is necessary_

_All newly turned vampires must report to the Registration Bureau to be catalogued_

_A vampire must feed only on blood issued by the Government_

_All Daywalkers must be catalogued_

_Disobedience of any of these laws will result in death by staking._

Damon Salvatore walked down the hallway of his precinct, whistling a jaunty tune. It had been a quiet week at the station, and he was glad of it. The lack of work would bother ordinary people, but Damon had saved up enough money over the 182 years of his life to keep him going for a long time. Damon Salvatore was a vampire, head of the Vampire Police Department in New York City.

The raven haired vampire reached his office and flopped into his chair, kicking his booted feet up onto his desk. As usual, his gaze strayed to the far wall of the relatively large office and the plaque that hung upon it, framed by his department's various awards and certificates: the Laws. Damon scoffed with contempt and looked away. The Government had been aware of the supernatural for eleven years now, the public for ten. Naturally they had felt a need to create some form of disciplinary system to protect the public and ensure that no supernatural creature could ever commit a crime. Werewolves had Laws as well, as did witches and warlocks. Damon sighed. He almost preferred the good old days, where the public knew nothing of vampires, witches and werewolves apart from what they read in teenage fiction. Now everything had changed.

A loud crashing noise snapped Damon from his reverie as a tall, sandy haired man burst into his office, panting slightly. He straightened up almost instantly and looked embarrassed. Damon cocked an eyebrow. "Ric, you're late. Lexi's already here." He gestured to a blonde across the room who looked up and smirked.

Alaric nodded. "I know, sorry. Jenna and I...we..." He broke off, looking slightly sheepish.

Damon threw up his hand. "TMI, Ric, TMI." He stood up and strode over to his best friend, clapping him on the shoulder before moving out of his office. "You know, for a member of the undead, you make a _lot _of noise. I could hear you coming from three blocks away."

"He's a man. No co-ordination." Lexi sauntered up to her partners, a smile playing at the corner of her lips.

Both men wheeled round. Alaric looked mildly offended, whilst Damon just smirked. "Watch what you say, _Alexandra_. I might just demote you for insulting your superiors."

"Oh really?" Lexi challenged, putting her hands on her hips.

"Yep." Damon popped the 'p'.

Lexi was about to retort when Damon's mobile began to ring. He pulled it out, made a face at the Caller ID, and answered. His expression went from annoyed to worried as the speaker on the other end gave him their message. His team mirrored his expression as they listened in using their superior hearing. When the speaker finished, Damon sighed. "Where?"

ooo

The trio arrived at the crime scene on East 35th Street less than ten minutes later, thanks to their enhanced speed. It was dark already, and the air was filled with the smell of blood. The wail of police sirens was deafening, and many people had come out of their homes to see what was going on. A few human officers were trying to usher them back inside.

Damon strode purposefully towards the barrier of yellow tape, flanked by Alaric and Lexi. He was just about to duck under it when a hand shot out, stopping him. He looked up to find none other than John Gilbert blocking his path. John smiled smugly. "ID?"

Damon groaned. "Are you seriously gonna do this _every single time _we cross paths at a crime scene? It's getting old."

John appeared unfazed. "Can I see your ID, please?"

Scowling, Damon pulled out his badge, slapping it into John's hand with more force than was necessary. He smirked when the other man wobbled a little from the blow. John righted himself, then scrutinised Damon's badge as if it were a twenty page legal document. Just as Damon was growing impatient, John looked up, and handed the badge back to the vampire. "Well, everything seems to be in order. Mind how you go, Superintendent Salvatore. The Government seems to trust your..._kind_, but others may not be so friendly. You need to watch your back."

Damon bristled. "Was that a threat, _Gilbert_?"

John chuckled. "Ooh, temper, temper. You wouldn't want me to make a scene. Because, if you touch me, I won't hesitate to."

Damon narrowed his eyes. "You'd be unconscious before you even got a word out."

John raised an eyebrow. "I am armed, you know." He pulled back the cover of his holster to reveal a collection of stakes. "I'll take you down if you try and attack me."

This time it was Damon who chuckled. "I'd like to see you try." The veins around his eyes darkened, and he moved back his lip to reveal his fangs. When John made no reply, he smirked. "I thought so." He ducked under the tape and motioned to Lexi and Alaric. "Come on, guys. This bastard isn't worth my time."

"You shouldn't let him get to you," Lexi slapped him on the arm once they were out of John Gilbert's earshot. "He only does it to get a rise out of you."

"Yeah, he's a scumbag," Alaric added. "Just ignore him."

Damon nodded absently, his attention focussed on the carnage that lay before him. Blood covered most of the street, some of it reaching as far as the houses on either side. The mangled pile of bodies in the centre looked like something out of a horror movie. Most were disfigured beyond recognition, their throats torn out, with bite marks all over their bodies. It was a gruesome sight to behold. Behind him, Lexi made a noise of disgust. Damon nodded again, and then took charge of the small group of NYPD detectives standing around the crime scene. They all looked uncomfortable and more than slightly ill. Damon held up his badge for all to see. "Superintendent Salvatore, NYVPD. My team and I are taking over this case. You can all go, we'll handle this."

Had the situation been any different, Damon would have laughed at the sight of five grown men and women running like frightened rabbits from a crime scene. But, given the circumstances, he understood. It wasn't every day that ordinary citizens witnessed an attack this brutal. He nodded at the Medical Examiner running up to them. "How many dead?"

"Seven," replied the ME, a little out of breath. He extended his hand. "Harper Fields. I'm new here."

Damon took the offered hand and shook it. "Damon Salvatore." He glanced at the corpses again. "You sure it's vampires? The wounds seem a little..."

"Big?" supplied Harper. "I was suspicious myself when I first got here. But it's vampires all right. The wound radius and shape of the smaller bites are the right size. It fits."

Damon nodded. "Well there's only one vampire I know of that's capable of something like this. And if I know him well enough, he'll have left a calling-card."

Harper looked interested. "Who's that?"

Damon's reply was cut off by Alaric shouting. "Hey, Damon, you should probably come see this."

Damon excused himself to Harper and blurred over to Alaric and Lexi, who were staring at something on the ground. He raised an eyebrow at Alaric. "You don't have to shout Ric, vampire hearing, remember?" He tapped his ear for effect. "What is up with you today? You seem a little...off." He shook his head. "Anyway, what have we got?"

Alaric didn't reply, merely pointed at the ground a few feet in front of them. Damon followed his finger. What he saw there made him grimace in apprehension. He looked up, frowning. He had been right. There was only one thing that the huge letter K written on the ground in blood could mean. "Klaus."

ooo

"I...I'm sorry...I don't follow...Klaus?" Harper questioned as they watched the last of the bodies being loaded into the ambulance.

Lexi looked incredulous. "You're working a case with the NYVPD and you _don't know _who Klaus is?" She whistled through her teeth. "Wow, you must be _really _new." Alaric chuckled at this.

Damon waved a hand. "All right, all right Lexi, no need to be mean." He rolled his eyes as the blonde stuck her tongue out at him.

Harper seemed impatient. "So...who is Klaus?" Lexi snorted loudly and Alaric stifled a giggle.

"Klaus is _the _vampire," Damon began with a sigh, casting an amused glance towards his team. "He's from the first generation of vampires."

"Basically he's the oldest vampire in the history of time," Lexi interjected.

Damon sighed again. "Yes, thank you Lexi. So...that's pretty much it. Klaus is the most powerful vampire alive today. He has a massive network of vampires, witches and even some werewolves who all work for him. Unfortunately for us, he happens to be almost untraceable. All of the leads we've ever had have come up blank. We can't find him. We're trying to, but at the moment our chances are next to none."

Harper nodded, trying to digest the information. "And you're _sure _he did this?"

Alaric answered, "Certain. He always leaves his signature at crime scenes, the uh...letter K written in blood. There's no one else it can be, unless someone's decided to imitate him, in which case we're in trouble."

Harper looked thoughtful. "Is there a...file I could have on him? Or a report..."

"Knock yourself out!" Lexi threw her arms wide. "We've a whole _office _dedicated to the guy. Just come in tomorrow and get what you need..."

Harper continued to question Alaric and Lexi but Damon tuned them out as he strained his ears. He heard a faint rustling coming from one of the dumpsters by the side of the road. Curious and alert, he made his way over to the bin. Nearing it, he pulled out a stake and threw open the lid. What he saw there made his brow crease in worry.

"Oh shit."

**A/N: Ooooh, evil cliff-hanger, I know. I'm sorry, but it was just too tempting. Just to clear up any confusion surrounding who's what species and so on:**

**Vampires: Damon, Alaric, Lexi, Klaus (he is only a vampire in this fic, not a freaky hybrid)**

**Humans: John, Harper, assorted NYPD officers**

**That's it for all of the characters we've met so far. For those of you who haven't guessed, the NYVPD is the New York Vampire Police Department. Don't worry; we'll be meeting most of the usual TVD characters later on. Next chapter: angst, werewolves and ELENA! R&R**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry for the late update, have been on holiday to Scotland. Thank you sooo much to everyone who reviewed/alerted/favourited the last chapter. You all made me smile lots and lots :D So Elena is introduced in this chapter... I hope you like it. R&R**

A girl. She couldn't have been older than 18, with long chestnut hair and a beautiful, peaceful face. But what worried Damon the most was her heartbeat, or apparent lack of. Sighing, he raked a hand through his hair in frustration. "Ric, Lexi, come take a look at this," he muttered under his breath, knowing full well the other two would hear. They were by his side in an instant.

"Oh shit," Lexi murmured.

"Yeah."

"Oh, crap. Is she?"

"Yeah."

"How?"

"I don't know."

"What do we do?" Ric questioned.

Damon sighed again. "I have absolutely no idea." With that, he began to walk away without a backwards glance.

Lexi stopped him in his tracks. "Well you can't just leave her here!"

A raise of the eyebrow was given. "And why is that? She's not my problem, Lex."

"She is right, you know..." Alaric reasoned, looking mildly sheepish.

Damon threw his hands up. "Well what do you want me to do? What am I gonna do with her? Where am I gonna put her? If she _does _decide to change, she's going to need help, and...and training. I can't deal with someone in transition!" He turned his head to the side and muttered, "I have enough problems of my own."

"But you _can't_ leave her here," Lexi stressed, placing a comforting hand on his arm.

Seeing he was getting nowhere, Damon caved. "Ok, fine. _Fine_! I'll take her back to the station. From then on, she's not my problem." So saying, he strode over to the dumpster and lifted the girl's body out of it, throwing her over his shoulder and tossing a 'See you at the station' at Alaric and Lexi. He knew he had to get her to the station before she woke up or otherwise the car journey would be very unpleasant. Vampires in transition were volatile and temperamental, likely to snap at any minute. This girl had to be watched constantly, and if she did choose to become one of them; someone would have to train her and babysit her at every moment of every day to make sure she didn't hurt anyone.

_Well that is not gonna be me_, Damon thought to himself as he placed the girl in the front seat of his car and began to drive away from the crime scene. He had enough going on in his life at the moment, with the Klaus investigation; and Stefan... Damon stopped himself. Thinking of his brother was not a good idea, especially when he should concentrate on driving and his still, thankfully, unconscious passenger. _I just hope she chooses to die_, Damon thought. _Being a vampire is such a hassle nowadays_...

ooo

Drowning. She was drowning, sinking, falling, faster and faster and faster until she almost couldn't breathe. Suffocating, her breathing slower and slower until everything around her went black... Then there was nothing. No sound, no movement, no feelings, no emotions. She was empty, cold inside. _So this is what death feels like, _she thought. _Like nothing_. She was almost ready, almost ready to give up and go into the light, the white light that burned so bright in the midst of all this nothingness; when suddenly...

Elena inhaled sharply and opened her eyes. She blinked a few times, trying to focus. When her vision had cleared, she sat up and tried to take in her surroundings. She was in a small bare room, lying on a small table. Confused, she tried to sit up when...

"Mornin' sunshine."

She jumped and looked behind her. A man, wearing a police uniform, with jet-black hair and azure eyes, stood leaning against the doorframe, smirking. She shook her head in confusion. "Who...who are you?"

He sauntered towards her. "Superintendent Damon Salvatore, NYVPD. And you are...?"

"Elena Gilbert." Elena blinked. "And where exactly am I?"

Damon looked at her as if it were obvious. "Police station."

Elena panicked. "What...why?"

A sigh was given. "I hate this part." Another sigh. "What do you know about vampires, Elena?"

Elena's confusion increased. "I know that they kill people, sometimes," she said slowly. "And that some of them work for the police." She gasped. "You're one of them, aren't you? The NYVPD. You're...you're a..."

"We'll get to that part later," Damon waved her comment away. "First I've got to ask: what do you remember about last night?"

"It was dark, and...there was a man..." she shook her head. "No, two men, and...there was blood, and I felt pain, and then...nothing...and then I woke up here." She looked up, worried. "What happened?"

Damon seemed to consider his response carefully. "Well somehow you...you ingested...and then you..." He shook his head. "Oh, whatever. You're in transition."

"What? Into what...oh..." Elena gasped as she realised what Damon was talking about. "No!" She began to back away against the wall. "No, no, no, no, this can't be happening to me! I don't want this to happen to me. I don't want to be a vampire!" She shrieked as Damon tentatively began to approach her. "Don't touch me! Get away from me! I don't want this!" She dissolved into tears, sinking to the ground and sobbing into her knees.

"Elena...Elena...look at me!" Damon crouched down so he was at her eye level. "Look at me, Elena, please." She complied, hesitantly, tears still streaming down her face. He sighed. "You don't have to be this way. You can choose not to be this way." Seeing her bemused expression he continued, "You have to feed on human blood to complete the transition. If you don't want to, you don't have to turn. And I'm guessing you don't so..." He got up and turned around, heading for the door, when her voice stopped him.

"What if I don't drink the blood? What happens to me then?"

He turned around to face her, a sad look in his ice-blue eyes. "You die." He placed a blood bag on the bench by the door. "I'll leave this here, in case you change your mind." Then he was gone.

ooo

"Well _that _went well," Damon muttered sarcastically as he exited the interview room in which Elena was being kept. He was soon joined by Alaric and Lexi.

"What happened?" Lexi queried.

Damon gave a noncommittal shrug. "Hysterics, tears, denial; the usual. I'm sure you heard everything anyway."

Alaric nodded, and then a look of horror crossed his face. "Wait a minute, her name was Elena _Gilbert_?"

"Yeah," Damon confirmed. "Why?"

"Oh no," Alaric ran his hands through his hair in desperation. "She's Jenna's niece."

Before Damon could say anything, Lexi interjected. "Jenna's...your human girlfriend, right?" As Alaric nodded she began to look worried. "This...this is disaster bad."

Alaric nodded again. "What am I gonna tell Jenna?"

"No." Damon wheeled round to face Alaric. "You will tell her nothing, Ric, _nothing_. Am I clear?"

"But I can't just _lie_ to her, Damon, she's my girlfriend!"

Damon sighed. "You'll tell her the truth eventually; first we just need to figure out what to do with Elena...where'd she go?" Cursing under his breath, he blurred into the now empty interview room. There was no sign of Elena. Then he looked down at the bench and cursed again. The blood bag was gone.

ooo

Half an hour later there was still no sign of Elena. Damon was about to give up when he heard the faint sound of sniffling coming from the bathroom. Mentally berating himself for not looking there in the first place, Damon cautiously tiptoed over and pushed open the door. The sight he saw made him sigh.

Elena was scrunched up on the floor, silent tears streaming down her face. The now empty blood bag lay on the floor beside her, with the remnants of it covering her mouth. In three strides he was beside her. As he approached, she looked up at him with her doe eyes, her expression distraught. "I...I drank it...I couldn't help it...it just..." she hiccupped and sniffed loudly, a fresh wave of tears leaking from her eyes. "I...I'm a monster..."

Seeing her so upset touched something deep inside of Damon, and so he scooped her up in his arms and sat on the floor, careful to avoid the blood bag. "Hey, hey, shhh. You're not a monster," he stroked her hair soothingly.

Elena spread her hands wide. "But what am I going to do? I can't be like this. I can't...live like this. I'm not this person. I didn't want this!"

Sensing she was about to burst into tears again, Damon interjected, "I'll help you." _Way to go Salvatore_, he thought to himself. _Now you have to babysit her_.

Elena sniffled. "You will?"

She looked so hopeful that Damon had no choice but to continue. "Yeah, I will. You can come and live with me, and I'll train you. That way, you won't hurt anybody."

"Okay," Elena nodded, and her face seemed to brighten, only to darken again when she realised, "Oh, god, what am I going to tell my aunt Jenna?"

"We'll figure that out later. Now, let's get you cleaned up, shall we?"

**A/N: So, how was it? Please give me some feedback, it makes me happy! R&R**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**A/N: So here is chapter 3. Thank you all for your reviews, I appreciate every single one and love you all. In this chapter we introduce Jenna, who is still human by the way, and Katherine is mentioned. I'm not sure if she will be a recurring figure yet, but if I stick to my plan she shouldn't be. Sorry to anyone who was hoping to see her, I just couldn't fit her into the confusing mess that is this story plan! So, enjoy. R&R**

The small cafe was already full, despite the early hour. The citizens of New York bustled through the busy streets, out in force even though the sun was just beginning to rise. Through the hazy pink sunlight no one noticed the couple sitting near the back of the diner, murmuring quietly to each other about meaningless things.

Jenna lifted her coffee cup to her lips and took a long sip. "How's the Klaus investigation going?"

"Good." Alaric shifted in his seat. "It's uh...it's going good."

The blonde nodded. "And Damon? How is he?"

At this, the sandy haired vampire chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Damon is...well Damon. Annoying, cocky and insufferable, but still my best friend."

"How _do _you put up with him?"

A careless shrug was given. "I ask myself that every single day."

A smirk on her face, Jenna dug into her bag. Pulling out her phone, she glanced at the screen for a few seconds as her smirk turned into a frown.

"What's wrong?"

Sighing, Jenna put away the device and locked eyes with her vampire boyfriend. "It's my niece."

Alaric's throat went dry. He kept his face emotionless, however, as he queried, "Elena, right?" When Jenna confirmed this he continued, "What's going on? Is she okay?"

"I'm sure she's fine, but..." Jenna heaved another sigh and raked her hands through her hair. "She just hasn't been returning my calls, that's all. I mean, I know she's 18 and is fully capable of looking after herself but it just hasn't sunk in that she's not 17 anymore, and that I'm not responsible for her. But I can't help worrying, you know?"

A nod, and then Alaric bent his head slightly and ran his hands through his hair. He hated lying to Jenna. "If I hear anything, I'll let you know. But in the meantime, I'm sure wherever she is, she's being taken care of."

ooo

Across town, a light blue Camaro was speeding down the packed New York streets. Inside, the two passengers sat in an awkward silence, neither sure of what to say to the other. Elena opened her mouth as if to speak, and then closed it again, settling instead for chewing nervously on her lip.

Damon heaved a sigh. "Ok, what's on your mind? Go on, get it out, purge." He enunciated the last word, keeping his eyes fixed firmly on the road.

"Okay," Elena sat up straighter in her seat. "Where are we going?"

He turned his head to look at her then, a derogatory look in his eyes. "My house. Next?"

Insulted, the brunette turned away slightly. "And...what are we gonna do there?"

"I'm gonna train you," he offered with a casual shrug. "Teach you to be a _good little vampire _so you don't chow down on harmless civilians when I'm not around." His tone was scornful, mocking. It hurt more than she was willing to admit.

Her mouth fell open in disdain. "And how long is that going to take?"

Damon huffed out a breath, his fringe flopping slightly. "Jeez, impatient much?" he muttered to no one in particular. Reverting his attention to her, he replied, "It depends very much on the vampire, in this case, you. If you want to get your bloodlust under control, then it should all be nice and easy. If not, well..." He trailed off, leaving her to imagine the consequences if she didn't learn to control herself.

She brushed his comment off airily. "I'm sure I'll be fine. Anyway, I have to get back to college soon. The semester starts in a week."

A firm shake of the head was given. "Nuh uh. No college. No way."

"What?" Elena scoffed. "Why shouldn't I go to college? It's my life; I can do whatever the hell I want with it. You don't control me." Her expression of disbelief soon turned to anger as she realised he was laughing at her. "What?" she snapped.

"Nothing," he replied, although the shaking of his shoulders and his expression of mirth betrayed his answer. Seeing her scowl deepen, he placated, "You just remind me of someone I used to know, that's all."

Elena nodded pensively. "Who was she?"

"Her name was Katherine," he began, his expression slightly wistful for a second before his mask slid back on and his facade became indifferent once again. However Elena didn't miss the hurt that seemed to linger beneath it, the pain that swirled beneath the surface of his icy eyes. There was a _lot _more to Damon Salvatore than met the eye. Damon resumed his narrative. "She was the person who turned me, _way_ back in 1864."

"Oh." Elena realised that this must be a personal subject and that she probably shouldn't pry. However curiosity won over and she asked, "What was she like?"

He shrugged idly, as if it didn't matter. "She was beautiful. A lot like you in that department." Pausing to gauge her reaction, he seemed satisfied enough with her half-smile, half-eye roll and continued, "She was also very complicated and selfish and at times not very kind but very sexy and seductive."

"You loved her?"

Damon sighed. "I thought I did, yes. But then I found out that she had never really loved me, that it had always been..." He broke off with a slight scoff and a shake of the head. "...Someone else." After a pause, he sighed. "Not that it matters, anyway. It was a long time ago."

Elena's brow furrowed. "What happened to her?"

"She died," he stated simply, then as an afterthought added, "Fire. _Tragic_." His voice had a bitter edge to it. "I guess the little bitch finally got what she deserved." They drove on in silence for a few more minutes, before Damon seemed to snap out of his nostalgic trance and returned to their previous topic of conversation. "Anyway, enough changing the subject. You can't go to college."

"_What_? Why not?" Elena's anger returned as quickly as it had dissipated, and she clenched her fists tightly.

Apathetic and sarcastic mask firmly back in place, Damon rolled his eyes. "Well _A_, you won't be able to control yourself in front of that many people, and _B...what I just said_. Besides, how are you gonna walk around in the daylight? Sun is harmful to vampires, _remember_?"

"How do you do it?"

He sighed again, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I have a ring, it protects me." He waved his left hand in the air. "Long story."

"Um...well, I'll just get one like yours."

Damon scoffed. He didn't know whether to be annoyed or impressed by her persistence. Nevertheless, there were still many things she didn't know. "First you'd have to get approved by the Board, and get catalogued...It's a whole ordeal."

She frowned, defeated. "Oh."

"Yeah." He looked away from her. Awkward silence settled again as the pair sat without speaking, their eyes fixed firmly on the road. Then, "Well, here we are."

Elena looked up in amazement as he pulled up in front of a gorgeous detached house. It was a modern design, with huge glass windows, a flat roof and stunning balcony. A small gate at the side caught her attention. It was open just a crack, and through it she caught sight of a large garden. She was impressed, but bemused. Did this beautiful house really belong to the arrogant, infuriating vampire sitting next to her?

Driving the car into the garage, which opened automatically, Damon killed the engine and got out. When Elena didn't follow he peered through the window, one perfect eyebrow arched. "You coming, or are you just gonna sit here and stare at the wall of my garage until the sun goes down?"

She glared at him, then threw open the door. "I'm coming."

He nodded. "I thought so."

ooo

Entering the house, Elena gasped. The inside was just as beautiful as the outside. Everything was done in a sleek and modern design, and she was impressed. Whoever had furnished this house obviously had excellent taste.

With perfect accuracy and without looking, Damon tossed his car and door keys into a small black bowl on a dresser by the front door. He spread his arms wide. "Welcome to Casa Salvatore." Noticing her wide eyes, he smirked. "What do you think? It's not bad, huh?"

"It's uh...it's amazing." Elena shook herself out of her momentary stupor. "Did you do all of this yourself?"

"Yep." He popped the 'p'. Turning away, he began to head up the glass staircase, pointing ahead of him as he went. "Your room is this way, come on."

Elena began to follow, but then jumped back, noticing the windows that reached almost from floor to ceiling. When the light didn't burn her skin, she looked up, puzzled.

Not even bothering to turn around, Damon eased her anxiety. "It's tempered glass. UV rays can't penetrate." He tossed a glance over his shoulder, stopping on the top step. "Ergo, no vampire barbecue. It's the same as on my car." When she made no move to follow him up he continued, "I don't have all day, _Elena_." He drew her name out and pinned her beneath an intense blue gaze that made her head spin and her breath catch in her throat. The spell was broken as he added, "So get your pretty vampire butt up here before I throw you over my shoulder and carry you out myself."

Rolling her eyes, Elena picked herself up off the white marble floor with ease and followed the raven-haired vampire up the stairs. He missed the half-smile that touched her lips all the way to her bedroom door.

**A/N: Soooo, what did you think? Was it ok? Elena will be quite a bit darker in this fic, because now everything about her personality is magnified, and she was quite stubborn as a human so... Jenna is still human and we find out how she knows the gang later on. Oh and Katherine really died in the church fire (there was no tomb). I will be bringing more residents of Mystic Falls into the mix later, don't worry. I've already worked out most of their places in the story. Any quotes I use are not mine and belong to the creators of this brilliant show. See if you can spot any of them, and let me know in a review. Reviews are like chocolate chip cookies, so please R&R!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**A/N: I'm back! I'll try to make this a little longer so you have more to enjoy and review ;) This has taken me a while to get just right, and I'm still not sure if I'm happy with it. Oh well, have it anyway. R&R**

Damon stopped so suddenly that Elena ran into his leather-clad back. He didn't seem to notice, however, and dismissed her mumbled apology with an offhanded wave. Stepping around him, Elena glanced up curiously at his face and then followed his intent azure gaze to a dark panelled wooden door. Before she could ask him what was so fascinating about a piece of wood, however, he produced a key from the pocket of his dark wash jeans and went to put it in the lock. Had she been human, or not paying attention, Elena wouldn't have noticed the way his hand shook ever so slightly, or the way he seemed to hesitate, or most of all the glimpse of uncertainty and perhaps fear that passed across his otherwise impassive facade. But then it disappeared as quickly as it had emerged, and he rammed the key into the lock, turned it once, and pushed the door open with such determination and force that the petite brunette feared it would come off its hinges.

"Well, this is _your _room," he announced in an authoritative voice, giving her no room to protest or argue.

Tentatively, she stepped over the threshold, glancing around warily as if afraid of something hiding in the shadows. It was a large room, and well-lit, but the furniture was just a little too dark and antique for Elena's taste. There was nothing unusual about it, except perhaps for the bookcase at the far end which was stacked with what appeared to be hundreds and hundreds of journals. Elena raised an eyebrow at this but said nothing. A further quick inspection of the room and she noticed a small round table with yet more journals on it and a large antique dresser. A light blue shirt lay untouched on the bed, evidently put there by the previous owner of the room but discarded and never worn.

Taking all of these factors into account, Elena came to the conclusion that: "This is a man's room. _Was _a man's room." She glanced up at Damon and cocked her head to one side. "Who lived here before?"

The sarcastic retort of '_A man_' was on the tip of the Salvatore's tongue, but he decided that the newly-turned vampire would not take his joke very well. Instead, "No one important."

"Then why was the door locked?"

Damon rolled his eyes. She was certainly persistent. "It doesn't really matter, does it? The only thing you need to worry about is that it's yours now." A beat, then, "For the time being, anyway."

"So the door was locked," Damon was about to scream in frustration when he realised Elena was talking to herself. "And you said it's _not important_. That clearly means it is, so _someone_ important lived here..." She continued muttering under her breath, and although he could hear her perfectly well if he so desired, Damon decided to tune out Elena's babbling and wait for her to finish trying to unravel his life's mysteries. Nothing, however, could have prepared him for her next question.

"Are you gay?"

Damon nearly fell over.

He then fixed her with such a look that Elena went red, or as near to red as it was possible for her to go, dropped her gaze to her feet, and muttered, "Well the room clearly belongs to an important man from your past who obviously moved out or left and I was just wondering..." She tailed off, clearly embarrassed.

Damon chuckled wryly. "Of all the questions you could have asked me, you chose _that one_?" A condescending look was thrown her way. "You really are as shallow as you look."

Elena bristled with anger and her mouth fell open in righteous indignation. She was about to reply to his offensive comment when the raven haired vampire interrupted her, "Come on then, time to go," and propelled her out into the corridor, towards the stairs. Still fuming, she used all of her strength to slap his hand away. "Don't touch me!"

Her expression of fury soon turned into one of shock as her small hand flew to her face. Panicked, she pressed her fingers to her now descended fangs and she shook her head furiously, tears beginning to gather in her bloodshot eyes. Damon however seemed unfazed, and instead regarded her emotionlessly. "You _really_ need to learn how to control your temper."

"You...you did that on purpose? Why?" Elena's face had by now returned to normal, and her brow furrowed in confusion, a hint of her previous anger returning.

He shrugged nonchalantly. "I needed to see how bad your temper was, and determine how you'd react in public if a human made you angry."

"And what did you _determine_?" Elena spat the last word as if it were venom.

Another shrug. "That your temper is really bad, and if you carry on at this rate, you'll end up arrested or dead." Seeing her murderous expression, he heaved a theatrical sigh and amended, "But you can learn to control it. That's what I'm here for, remember?" He pointed at his chest. "Damon Salvatore, eternal stud and vamp-trainer extraordinaire!" He ended with a flourish, bowing dramatically and smirking arrogantly at her. When Elena didn't smile, he straightened up and groaned. "Oh come on, pouty, at least give me two points for ingenuity."

She fixed him with her best glare. "You think this is funny?"

"Yes, Elena," Damon began sardonically. "I find hilarity in the lengths I'm gonna have to go to to make sure you don't _eat_ any civilians when someone says something that _hurts your feelings_."

"Ugh, whatever," Elena threw a hand up in the air in frustration, turned on her heel, and stomped down the stairs, tossing a "Let's just get this training over with," over her shoulder as she went.

"You know," Damon murmured cheekily, knowing full well she could hear, "You're really cute when you're mad."

"Shut up."

ooo

"So, aren't you gonna give me a tour?" Her hand was resting on her hip, head cocked to one side, as she regarded him with an expression of impertinence and superiority.

She looked like she thought she was _so_ much betterthan everyone else around her that he almost called her Katherine, but stopped himself at the last minute, grimacing at the bitter taste _that _name had left in his mouth. Clearing his throat, he fixed her with his best knee weakening smirk. "Why yes, _Miss _Elena, if you'd like to follow me..." She missed the significance of the title, and he was glad of that, but he just couldn't resist throwing it in there as the next best alternative to calling her Ka-Bitch.

"Kitchen, dining room, game room, blood storage room..." Damon was powering through the ground floor, rattling off names and flinging his ringed hand in every possible direction, pointing down corridors and behind walls, showing her rooms she barely even had time to see. As he led her down the main hallway, Elena wondered briefly if this _endless_ house was bigger on the inside, like in freaky sci-fi movies and TV shows. Her raven haired, blue eyed tour guide was telling her something about which TV remote to use, but she wasn't really listening, instead absorbed in her own thoughts. Her newly acquired selective and enhanced vampire hearing was proving to be really useful for tuning out background noise.

She was so distracted that she ran into Damon, _again_, and this time he was slightly less preoccupied and fixed her with an amused look. "If I'd known that all it took to get you to _literally_ throw yourself at me was to tell you not to use the grey remote, I would've done it a _lot_ sooner."

A scoff. "You're a pig."

"And you're a _judgy_ little bitch. Anything else?"

Elena really wanted to slap that arrogant smirk off his face, but instead settled for a scowl and a biting reply of, "No, _nothing_. Why did we stop?"

Damon shrugged. "This is the last stop on our tour, and the door is locked." Another key was produced, and Damon dangled it in front of her face for a moment before bending down slightly to unlock the door.

Elena's scowl deepened. "Then why didn't you unlock it sooner?"

"Well," Damon pushed the door open a little harder than was necessary, "I was a little too distracted by _someone_ throwing themselves at my back in a _highly _inappropriate and sexual manner."

Elena groaned. "There was _nothing_ sexual about... Wow." Chocolate eyes widened in amazement as the brunette took in the scene before her. Antique wood floors covered with plush carpets gave way to towering floor to ceiling bookcases filled to the brim with ancient-looking tomes. Sofas and armchairs were dotted around the room, and beside each stood an antique lampshade and small wooden end table. It was simply beautiful.

"You have a _library_?" Elena queried in an incredulous voice.

Damon nodded. "I've been around for a long time, Elena. Back in my day, libraries were the height of fashion. Every house had one." He shrugged nonchalantly. "I guess old habits die hard. Besides," he continued, the tone of his voice dropping and turning almost defensive, "I love to read."

A wide, happy smile spread across Elena's features. So he _did _have something vaguely human in him after all. Then she remembered, "When _was _your day, anyway?"

"1864." He replied succinctly.

Elena nodded. "What was it like?"

Damon's gaze clouded over for a second, as if he was reliving some memories. Then he seemed to collect himself, and shook his head, as if clearing away the pictures in his mind. "That's another story for another time."

"But..."

"Nuh uh." Damon cut her off, "No buts. Training."

ooo

The crystal tumbler made a dull ringing noise as Damon set it down on the oak coffee table, and the blood inside moved upwards at the impact. A drop caught on the rim and trickled slowly down the side, drawing crimson patterns on the ornate glass. Elena's eyes tracked it all the way to the bottom, watching it pool on the table and spread around the bottom of the glass. The newly turned vampire licked her lips, feeling a familiar hunger in the pit of her stomach.

"Don't. Touch. That." The vampire punctuated every word with a slight flick of the wrist. "Don't even move until I say you can. Don't speak, don't think, just focus on that glass and tell yourself: 'I don't want it, I don't want it.' Think of something that makes you happy, something _human_. This is a test of your self-control. Fail, and you may never be allowed outside again."

He moved away, booted feet squeaking slightly on the panelled floor. Elena's nervous gaze flicked to him momentarily, and Damon shook his head. "Don't think about me, pretend I'm not here. Ignore the background noise and just focus on controlling your..." He paused, mentally sifting through his wide range of vocabulary in order to find the right word. He seemed satisfied with, "_urges_," and continued ambling around the large room, pulling out books at random, blowing away the fine coating of dust on them and then leafing through them without really reading the words.

Elena's chocolate orbs were now firmly fixed on the tumbler of blood. Her teeth firmly clenched, she was trying desperately to ignore the gnawing hunger in the pit of her stomach, the uncontrollable urge just to pick up the glass and drain it dry in as little time as possible. She resisted, however, instead repeating _I don't want it, I don't want it_ over and over in her head like a mantra. Just as she felt her thirst subside just a fraction, Damon took the opportunity to slam the thick, heavy book he had in his hands closed, sending a cloud of dust mushrooming into the air. Elena's concentration broke, and she snapped her head up, a glare on her face, only to be greeted with Damon's seemingly ever-present smirk.

"No moving until I say, remember?" He rolled his shoulders briefly before announcing loudly, "Well, I'm gonna go have a shower and change, you have a nice time. That blood had better still be there when I get back." With that, he replaced the book on the shelf and sauntered out of the room, whistling loudly as he went.

Elena clenched her fists in frustration. _Why couldn't he just shut up?_ Huffing in annoyance, she turned her attention back to the blood. Instantly all her other thoughts disappeared. All she could see, smell and almost taste was blood. It was as if an unseen force was influencing her, pulling her ever closer to the thing she craved most in the world. And she was all but powerless to resist. Elena bit her lip, hoping to gain some control, and drew blood. The crimson liquid pooled on her lower lip and trickled steadily down her chin. Instantly she removed the pressure, and the wound healed, stopping the steady stream of blood.

The brunette wiped the already dried trail of blood away with the back of her hand. She was grateful for the distraction, anything was better than thinking about the almost irresistible object that lay before her, and that she had to try and keep herself away from. Elena almost considered getting up and running away, far away from this huge room with its dusty books and faded carpets. But she quelled the thought almost as soon as it flitted through her mind. She couldn't do that. She couldn't let _him_ down.

Damon Salvatore had blown into her life like a hurricane, destroying her sheltered little world and everything she knew. He had been an unwelcome guest, much like this cursed existence that she was now being forced to live. She had disliked him at first, almost hated him, and been afraid of him. Him with his conceited smirks and condescending looks, his inappropriate comments and insulting statements. But try as she might, she could never quite bring herself to completely _hate_ this man, who was now her only hope if she ever wanted to regain some semblance of a normal life. In fact, she very nearly liked him.

As she drew in an unneeded breath, Elena was reminded sharply of the task she had been set. "_Don't. Touch. That."_ Damon had said, as if telling a small child not to put things in its mouth. The instruction had seemed so straightforward, so easy to accomplish... If only she had known. How could he have expected her to accomplish something that seemed so _impossible_? But she couldn't let Damon down. Somehow she didn't think she could face seeing the disappointment in his otherwise emotionless eyes.

_I don't want it, I don't want it, I don't want it, I don't want it, I don't want it, I don't want it, I don't want it, I don't want it. _The monotony of the chant in her mind made Elena's head spin. _I don't want it, I don't want it. _Surely Damon had to have finished showering by now? _I don't want it, I don't want it. _Was he just playing with her, like he was before? _I don't want it, I don't want it. _Was he seeing how long it would be before she gave up? _I don't want it, I don't want it. _Elena felt bile rise in her throat. _I don't want it, I don't want it. _She felt sick. _I don't want it, I don't want it. _She just needed to get out of here. _I don't want it, I don't want it. _What was it Damon had said to her? _I don't want it, I don't want it. _Desperately she tried to remember as the voice in her head, _her _voice, got steadily louder. _I don't want it, I don't want it. _The blood was really calling to her now, pulling her towards it, closer and closer. _I don't want it, I don't want it. _What had Damon said? _I don't want it, I don't want it. _Slowly she reached out until her fingers were brushing the glass of the tumbler. _I don't want it, I don't want it. _Frantically she tried to remember what it was when...

"_Think of something that makes you happy, something human."_

_Jeremy_. She heard his voice in her head, heard his laugh, saw him running down the drive of her aunt's old house to greet her after she'd been away for the weekend... And just like that, she felt okay. The insatiable bloodlust that had, until then, been consuming her every thought, had vanished to the back of her mind like a dull ache which she could easily ignore. Remembering her humanity seemed to help her regain it. Smiling softly at her memories, Elena closed her eyes in contentment.

"Well done." Elena jumped slightly at the baritone of Damon's voice sounding from just behind her. She snapped her head around sharply to look at him, a slight glare on her face. She hadn't even heard him come up behind her. "You know," he continued conversationally, walking around the sofa she was on and coming to sit beside her, "I really didn't think you were gonna make it. I'm glad to say that I was pleasantly surprised. So," he propped his feet up on the table, "How d'ya do it? What did you think of?"

"My brother," Elena muttered with some embarrassment, before coughing loudly to clear her throat and repeating nervously, "My...um...my brother Jeremy." Before Damon could respond she changed the subject, "How did you manage to sneak up on me like that?"

A roll of the ice blue eyes was given. "You weren't exactly paying much attention to anything going on around you. I could've walked in with a marching band and a herd of elephants and you wouldn't have noticed me."

"Yes I would have!" Elena immediately sprung to her own defence, although she knew that Damon was telling the truth.

"Yeah, yeah, if you say so," Damon waved her feeble attempt at defending herself away and swung his feet off the coffee table, before standing up and extending a hand to her. "So, ready for the next bit?"

Nodding, Elena accepted the offered hand and allowed Damon to pull her up. Once on her feet, she inclined her head towards the table. "What are we gonna do about...you know?"

Damon raised an eyebrow in confusion before glancing at the coffee table. "Oh. _That_. Waste not, want not I suppose." Picking up the tumbler with two slender fingers, he winked at Elena and wasted no time in emptying half the glass. He extended the remainder to Elena, eyebrow raised in a silent challenge. Elena grabbed it, greedily, and before long the tumbler sat emptied on the wooden table.

Noticing Damon regarding her amusedly, Elena shrugged and mimicked his earlier words: "Waste not, want not."

For the first time in the short time that she'd known him, Damon Salvatore threw back his head and actually _laughed_.

ooo

The rest of the day passed in much the same way. Damon showed Elena how to use her enhanced strength and speed, and repeated the self-control test a few times to make sure she hadn't passed the first one by chance. He taught her all about the history of vampires, where they had originally come from and the moment where they decided to reveal themselves to the Government and, eventually, the public. He tried, as well as he could, to avoid the subject of Originals; as that would only have brought up the subject of Klaus and Stefan... Damon didn't know if he was ready to tell Elena about that yet. When she asked him about his personal life or his work, he clammed up, claiming it was 'another story for another time'. Elena would have pressed the issue, but one look at Damon's face found her closing her mouth and staying quiet.

As the day wore on, and the sun sank lower in the sky, Elena found herself growing increasingly more fond of the cocky vampire with hair black as the night and eyes as blue as ice and deeper than the deepest ocean. He seemed to understand her like no one else ever had, even as a human, and the fact that he had been through everything she was experiencing at the moment, albeit in a different century where society and its expectations were completely different, meant that he could connect with her and understood how difficult it was not to lose control. Also, he was mostly very sensitive about everything, encouraging her when she did well and not being unsympathetic or making inappropriate comments when she didn't. Mostly.

Letting out a sigh of contentment and relief after having passed her last trial, Elena leaned into the soft cushions that lined the back of the library sofa. Damon was stretched out beside her, eyes closed, his long fingers lazily drawing patterns on the arm of the couch. Elena sniffed and rubbed her nose with the back of her hand. She turned to Damon, "What are we doing tomorrow?"

One azure eye was cracked open as Damon regarded her lazily. "Mmmh...dunno," he muttered, shutting his eye and turning his face away from her.

But Elena wasn't giving up. "No," she whined, pulling at his arm, "That's not an answer. Tell me!"

Damon's fingers stilled, and both eyes flew open this time. "_Jesus Christ_ woman, you never give up, do you? We'll figure out tomorrow when we get there. Just," he shrugged languidly, "Go with the flow."

Elena's bottom lip jutted out in an adorable pout that made Damon chuckle. Her brow furrowed. "Why are you so grumpy?"

"I'm not grumpy," he deflected instantly. Elena's eyebrow shot up as she regarded him sceptically. With a heavy sigh, he rolled his eyes and recanted, "Okay, fine, maybe a little. I've been awake for, oh, about 168 hours. Even us _big, bad vampires_ need to sleep too, you know?"

The corners of Elena's mouth curled upwards slightly at his comment. "How much _do _we actually need to sleep?"

Another shrug. "Two hours a week, maybe three. Depends on your age. I can usually get by on one. I would as well, if _someone_," he regarded her pointedly and Elena looked down bashfully, "would let me get any sleep!"

"But I'm not even tired yet!" Elena moaned, making a face.

"So high maintenance," Damon muttered seriously, but the twinkle in his cerulean eyes let Elena know that he was teasing her. "You're like a little kid sometimes. Most of the time," he amended with a smirk.

Elena scoffed. "I am not!"

"Are too."

"Am _not_!"

"Are too."

"I. Am. Not!" Elena punctuated each word with a punch, and at the end of her sentence, jumped into Damon's lap completely and began pummelling him with her small fists.

The vampire let out a small yelp of surprise and protest, she _was _using her full strength, and glared at her before growling playfully and flipping them over. He lowered his face to hers, so that his breath was hot on her face, and whispered, "I win."

Elena shivered at the sensation of his breath ghosting over her skin. Suddenly very aware of the close proximity between them, she gulped nervously and looked up into Damon's eyes, startled by the emotions she saw floating around in them, just below the surface: pure, unbridled lust, and could that be...surely it couldn't be..._love_? No, Elena shook herself, she was just imagining it.

Still releasing unnecessary breaths, Damon slowly brought his head even closer to hers, eyes focussed intently on her lips, his intentions perfectly clear. Elena didn't even consider fighting him off and had closed her eyes, ready for the sensation of his lips on hers...

_Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz._

Groaning at the interruption, Damon pulled back abruptly, leaving Elena lying gasping on the sofa, her mind awash with confusion. Yanking his phone out of the pocket of his jeans, Damon pressed 'answer' and held the phone to his ear. "This had better be important, Ric," he snapped, a scowl covering his sculpted face.

"_Trust me, it is." _The person on the other end, Ric, whom Elena didn't know but assumed was Damon's co-worker at the Police Department, replied.

"_Well_?" Damon demanded. "Come on then, spit it out! I was kinda in the middle of something here."

The reply at the other end was short and succinct. _"We think we've got a lead on Klaus."_

Damon's expression instantly became serious, his tone businesslike and clipped. "I'll be right over." He hung up, pocketed his phone, and started for the door, when Elena grabbed his sleeve.

"_Wait_."

A sigh. "What, Elena?"

Spluttering slightly, Elena spread her arms wide. "You can't just _leave _me like this! What if...? I don't understand...who is Klaus?"

"None of your _damn _business," Damon snapped, scowling, but when he saw an all too familiar hurt look cross Elena's face, he sighed again. "Look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. It's just...this is an important investigation, one I've been working on for a long time now, and I really need to be at the station as soon as possible. I'm sorry," he repeated. "How about you wait for me, and I'll tell you everything when I get back, okay?"

Elena nodded mutely, slightly upset that he was leaving her alone to go and work on an investigation. She understood, of course, that his job required a lot of time, but she couldn't help but feel that he was blowing her off to go to work. Damon must have sensed her discomfort, as he reached up and cupped her face with his hands. "I'll be back as soon as I can, I promise. Try and get settled into your room while I'm gone," he suggested. Elena nodded again, and Damon matched her gesture. "Okay. I'll see you in a while." With that, he pulled her closer to him, pressed his lips to her forehead, and was gone.

ooo

As she climbed the stairs up to her room, Elena couldn't help think of Damon's kiss. He had only kissed her forehead, and the gesture had been innocent enough, so why did her skin still burn where his lips had brushed it?

Trying not to dwell on it too much, Elena reached the entrance to her room and distracted herself by looking around her room for the second time that day. Nothing much had changed, except the shirt on the bed had been moved and replaced with a set of towels and a large t-shirt, which clearly belonged to Damon. A note had been left on top of it, written in an elegant, slanting script. It read,

_Elena_

_This is for you, until we can get you some new clothes. Don't feel obliged to wear it though (I won't mind if you decide to sleep naked)_

_From_

_The Eternal Stud_

Elena read it and smiled, rolling her eyes slightly at Damon's innuendo and his arrogance. Truth be told, she was very touched by his gesture. Clearly he deemed her important enough to let her stay for however long she needed.

Just as she was about to go back downstairs to find something else to do, something lying on the table in the centre of the room caught her eye. Curious, she picked it up and looked at it. At first she was confused, as she appeared to be looking at a black and white photograph of herself. But then she looked closer, and noticed the subtle differences. In the photo, the woman had smaller, darker eyes. There was a birthmark on her left cheek and her nose was longer. Her hair was also a little lighter, and curly. Puzzled, Elena looked for an inscription on the picture, and that was when she saw it:

_Katherine, 1864_

Elena let out a choked gasp and covered her mouth with her free hand. All this time he had been talking to her, laughing with her, telling her stories about his past in a light and carefree manner. She had always wondered why he had been so interested in her. Elena's shock quickly turned to anger, and then complete fury as she realised: he had only wanted her because she looked like Katherine.

Just as Elena was contemplating whether to run away, call Damon and demand that he come back and explain himself, or tear the photo up, the doorbell rang. Growling, Elena sped down the stairs and made for the door, pausing only to slam down the photograph in her hand onto the wooden table by the entrance as hard as she could, feeling a sense of morbid satisfaction when she heard the wood splinter. Still fuming, she ripped open the door. "_What_?" she growled venomously to the small blonde standing on her doorstep.

"Oh, hi, I'm just your new neighbour Jessica and I was wondering if you wanted to..." The blonde let out a shrill squeak when she saw Elena standing before her, her eyes dark and her vampire features on full display.

Through her anger, Elena barely even noticed what Jessica had been saying to her. Instead, her eyes were firmly fixed on the human's throat, and the siren call of the pulse that lay just below her creamy skin. Still growling, Elena advanced on her slowly, as a predator might stalk its prey. She didn't hear Jessica's frightened whimpers getting steadily louder as bloodlust overwhelmed her and she pounced, fangs sinking into the blonde's throat. Jessica let out one last ear-piercing scream before falling silent as Elena feasted greedily on her precious blood.

At last, when she had been drained dry, Elena let the corpse fall to the floor, and stood on Damon's porch for a few seconds, staring numbly into the night sky. So thick was the blood and anger-induced haze that clouded her mind, Elena noticed the shrill wailing of sirens getting closer and closer only too late, when the police car was almost next to her. Panicked, she glanced around, waiting for someone, _Damon_, to leap out of the shadows of the otherwise empty street and save her from this situation. No one did, however, and so Elena's survival instinct kicked in as her mind screamed at her to do the next best thing:

_Run_.

Using her full speed, Elena tore away from the officers that had by now climbed out of their cars, in a frenzied bid to get as far away from them as possible. But it was too late, and she had not run far enough.

Searing pain tore through Elena's back as she felt something cool pierce her clothes from behind. Choking and spluttering, she stopped running and swayed once, twice, before her knees buckled and she sank towards the floor, preparing herself for the hard, jarring impact of the asphalt below her.

It never came, and Elena fought to overcome her pain and confusion as strong arms caught her from behind. Through her glazed eyes, she made out raven hair and piercing blue eyes. _Damon_. So he had come, after all. As she slowly slipped out of consciousness, _his _voice pierced the fog clouding her mind. "Whoa. You are fading fast, Elena." Her eyes began to close again as he desperately tried to keep her awake. "Look at me, Elena, focus, look at me."

Slowly Elena forced her eyes all the way open and fixed Damon with a plaintive look. "I look like her."

She barely registered his bemused reply of "What?" before her eyes slid closed and the world faded into black.

ooo

_White_. That was the first thing Elena noticed as her eyes slowly flickered open and she began to regain consciousness. The small, box-shaped room she was in was painted all over in white, from the walls to the floor. A small light bulb hung on a wire in the centre of the room, and the cot she was lying on was hard, scratchy and uncomfortable. Clearly this room had not been designed for comfort. As her chocolate eyes flicked over to the door, Elena noticed the small window in it, with a shutter designed to be slid backwards and forwards so that you could see what was going on in...

"A cell," muttered Elena, more for her own benefit that for anyone else's. "I'm in a prison cell."

Gasping as the events of the previous night came back to her in a flash, Elena began to desperately scan the tiny room for a way to escape. She found none, except for the door, and from what she had seen in police dramas, these were always well guarded.

Blinking to try and further clear the haze from her mind, Elena's enhanced hearing helped her to make out a conversation going on on the other side of the wall.

"Please, Liz, just let her go." Elena breathed a sigh of relief as she made out Damon's voice.

A woman whose voice Elena didn't recognise sighed and then replied, "I don't know if I can Damon, the rules clearly state-"

"Well screw the rules! _Please_ Liz, do it for me."

The mystery woman's tone was more frustrated this time. "Well why should I? I can't just go around making exceptions just because _you_ asked. What makes her so special, anyway?"

"Because she needs me! I was responsible for her, and I screwed up!" _Yes, you did_, Elena mentally agreed. Damon continued, "I riled her up and then I just left her on her own, knowing that she was newly turned and unstable. I wasn't thinking, I didn't...think."

Elena frowned in confusion. Why was he lying to get her out? But Liz's reply to Damon's plea blew the confusion from her mind and her heart soared. "...This is highly irregular but..."

A shaky sigh of relief from Damon. "Thank you, Liz. This means a lot to me, you know."

"I know. But this is the _only _time," Liz warned. "If this happens again, I am _not _helping you, friends or not friends, do you understand me?"

"Perfectly," Damon replied, and soon Elena heard the sound of keys turning in her cell door. As Elena stepped out, she was met by a petite woman with close-cropped blonde hair.

"That's a good friend you've got there," she observed, leading Elena down a corridor towards a small waiting area where Damon was sitting. Noticing them, he stood up, and nodded to the woman, who was clearly Liz, in a silent gesture of thanks, which she promptly returned.

"He is. I'm lucky to have him," Elena responded, her brown eyes meeting Damon's impossibly blue ones as a small smile appeared on her face. He nodded at her, and her smile broadened, before disappearing suddenly as she remembered the reason why she was here in the first place.

Murmuring good bye to Liz, Elena made her way over to Damon's side, where she kept quiet, deciding to leave their inevitable confrontation until they returned to his house. He too stayed unusually quiet, and the pair remained this way for the duration of the car journey home; Damon keeping his eyes fixed firmly on the road, and Elena looking anywhere but at his face.

As Damon's blue Camaro pulled in to the familiar drive way, Elena prepared herself mentally for the argument she was about to have. She didn't like quarrelling with anyone, and the fact that she had just begun to grow attached to Damon made the thought of their impending row even more painful. So, as Damon drove into the garage and killed the engine, Elena wasted no time in leaping out of the vehicle and speeding into the foyer of Damon's house. As she heard him come up behind her, she felt anger overtake her once again as she wheeled around and brought her small palm across Damon's face as hard as she possibly could.

"You son of a bitch!"

**A/N: So, what did you think? I was asked to make my chapters longer, so I did. Haha. For those of you who can figure out whose room Elena is staying in, congratulations. To the rest of you, I'm afraid you'll have to wait. CHALLENGE: who can spot (and give me) the lines of dialogue I used from the show. It doesn't have to be all of them, just one will do, but I need the episode and, if you can, the moment it occurred at. SHOUTOUT TO THOSE WHO GET ONE CORRECT IN THE NEXT CHAPTER! R&R**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

**IMPORTANT PLEASE READ: All you lovely people who have Tumblr, go along and join my TVD Role Play blog. The URL is: the-vampire-diaries-roleplay(dot)tumblr(dot)com**

**A/N: Ok here goes: congrats to anniecall, gabby5987, superdoodie and chellethebelle for correctly identifying quotes and episodes. Love you guys and thanks for your feedback :) Also, well done to earthcat123 for just being awesome. So, this chapter is angsty and full of arguing and bitching and Delena. Just because whilst I'm a sucker for the love between those two, I love their angst just as much. I hope you like it, and please let me know what you think. R&R**

"_You son of a bitch!"_

When Damon made no reply to her abuse, Elena brought her hand up again, prepared to strike. He caught her palm this time, bending it backwards harder than was humanly possible, just hard enough to cause her pain but not hard enough to really hurt her. She winced slightly and her knees buckled; and a small noise of irritation erupted in the back of her throat as she wrenched her hand from his iron grip. Yet still Damon remained silent, surveying her coolly, detachedly, his ice-blue eyes swirling with confusion and an underlying hint of frustration, of anger, of the brutality and savagery that was his nature. It unnerved Elena, seeing him so blank and so still, his eyes for once betraying what his voice did not.

"You son of a bitch," Elena reiterated, trying desperately to get a reaction out of him, to make him lash out at her, shout at her like she wanted him to. Perverse and strange as it might sound, Elena wanted to argue, to get the almost blinding rage out of her system. Anything was better than silence.

At last Damon relented, a perfect black eyebrow lifted marginally from its original position as the vortexes in his eyes cleared and they became expressionless again. "And what is it exactly that I'm being accused of?"

Instantly Elena's anxiety evaporated and her anger returned in full force, rushing to the surface and bursting forth from her pink lips in a snarl so savage she thought she saw Damon wince. Fuming, she sped to the wooden table by the front door and ripped the faded photo from its surface. Hands shaking, she held it up.

"_This_."

Damon's jaw tensed and his eyes clouded for the briefest of seconds before they cleared again. Cursing loudly in a language Elena didn't understand, he blurred over to her and snatched the image from her hands, fingers denting the smooth, crisp material. His gaze flicked up to meet hers and he sighed. It was the sigh of a man who had seen too much, who had had enough, who was giving up. "Elena, I...I can explain. This isn't what you think it is..."

Elena cocked her hip to one side and fixed him with a burning glare. "Isn't it? Because I think it's _exactly _what I think it is. Why didn't you just tell me?" She laughed then, the sound harsh, bitter, so unlike her that she almost regretted it and almost covered her mouth before she remembered the reason she was here and carried on with her tirade. "All this time, all those stories you told, I was _stupid _enough to think that this," she gestured around her wildly, "meant something to you, that _I _meant something to you-"

"But you _do _mean something to me-" Damon interjected fervently, but Elena silenced him.

"No! You do _not _get to talk! God, I was so stupid," she laughed again, more to herself this time, the sound resigned and tired. "Imagine how I felt when you came along. I thought: 'How lucky I am, that I'm being helped by someone so kind to me.' I thought you actually cared. But I was wrong. It was all a huge lie. That's all you've done to me from the _moment _we met. Lie. I thought you were genuinely interested, that you actually _cared_!" Elena screamed the last word, tears beginning to pool in her eyes as she fought to cling to her sanity before she lost it completely and broke down. "What am I, to you?" she murmured, peering up at him through a curtain of hair. "_Who_ am I to you? Am I _Katherine_?"

"No," Damon shook his head. "You're not. Never. Which I would have explained if you'd just give me the chance-"

"_I've given you enough chances_!" Elena shrieked, the tears falling thick and fast now as her world was pulled out from beneath her and she lost control. The full extent of her fury was evident on her face as she shouted, "So tell me, _right now_, what the hell is going on!"

Damon was angry now as well, his previously impassive facade had cracked and his expression matched hers as the two vampires faced off in the marble hallway. "You think I asked for this? For you to find that? You think I planted it deliberately for you to find? This isn't my fault, you know! And you are _not_ Katherine; you were never and could never be Katherine to me. That's not-" he broke off, swearing loudly and shaking his head. "That's not why I chose to help you."

"Well then why?"

The three words were simple and precise, and yet Damon's mind reeled as he fought to answer the irate girl in front of him. "Because..." he sighed. "Because I couldn't help it. I connected with you, Elena, from the moment I saw you. I just...felt the need to protect you, to help you. The fact that you looked like Katherine didn't even occur to me until much later, and even then I didn't really care. I know I barely know you, but I feel..._something_...for you, Elena." Here he swallowed nervously, and his eyes met hers in a searching gaze. "We have something...an understanding...a connection of some kind that you can't ignore." Slowly, tentatively, he brought his hand up and traced the outline of her jaw with the soft pad of his thumb. Elena's breath hitched in her throat as he continued, "Just, _please_, tell me you feel it too."

"I...I..." Tears once more began to prick at Elena's eyes as she watched the man in front of her lay all his soul bare before her. Whimpering slightly, she looked deep into his azure eyes and uttered the words she knew would break his already fractured heart. "I can't."

With that, she turned and fled, disappearing deep into the recesses of the house, leaving Damon to slowly crumble in her wake.

ooo

Fuming, Damon stormed through the entrance to his precinct, throwing the door open so hard that the hinges creaked and bent slightly, leaving the glass-panelled door hanging at an awkward angle. People who had risen out of their seats to greet the Superintendent thought better of it and sat down again, knowing that when the boss was in _this _kind of mood it was best to give him a very wide berth. A vampire of Damon's age was dangerous at the best of times, and even more so when they were angry. And Damon was definitely angry.

Slamming the door to his office, Damon walked into the centre of the room. An aggressive snarl tore through his lips as he grabbed the object nearest to him, his expensive leather office chair, and flung it at the wall with all his strength. The chair left a considerable dent in the plaster wall, falling to the ground with its metal legs at an impossible angle and the leather cushions torn. Hairline cracks began to spider over the cream surface, releasing a small cloud of white dust that wisped through the air and sank onto the wooden floor, leaving a white stain.

Anger still not quelled, the raven haired vampire reached for his also expensive glass desk, but was stopped in time by a hand on his collar which used all its strength to shove him against the wall. Blinded by rage, Damon's fangs surfaced and he lashed out, tossing his attacker across the room into a small filing cabinet, which dented in the middle and began to lean precariously over the floor.

"Bad day?" Alaric surmised, getting to his feet.

Realising he had just thrown his best friend into a filing cabinet for no reason, Damon's face slowly began to clear and his vampire visage disappeared. He ran a hand through his hair. "You've no idea Ric."

"I believe you man, if that chair and my arm are anything to go by." Ric chuckled and then winced slightly as he used his strength to pop his dislocated shoulder back into place. It crunched loudly.

Damon made a face at the sound and then turned to Alaric, curious. "So what did you want?"

"Well apart from trying to stop you trashing the whole room..." The sandy haired vampire tailed off with a slight grin. It turned into a grimace as he told Damon the reason for his presence. "I just wanted to let you know that the wolves are on their way."

An exasperated groan was Damon's only response, before he added, "When?"

Alaric shrugged. "I saw them entering the building about five minutes ago so my guess would be..." He glanced out of the now open door and saw three figures coming down the corridor. "Now."

Another groan. "What the _hell _do those bastards want now?" With a sigh, a roll of the eyes and a mildly pleading glance at Ric, Damon made his way out of his office and towards the approaching people. With an obviously fake, very toothy smile, he spread his arms wide. "Mason! How _good_ to see you! Now what can I do for you on this _fine_ morning?"

"Cut the bullshit Salvatore," the brown haired man snapped. "I need your help."

Damon gave a mock pout. "Has your allowance finally run out, _Lockwood_?" The name was said mockingly, condescendingly. "Has _dear_ brother Richard finally realised what a _waste of space _you are and fired you?"

Mason's fists clenched as he ground out, "_No_."

"Well then why the _hell _are you here?"

The werewolf crossed his arms. "You broke the rules."

Damon scoffed. "Excuse me?"

"You broke the rules," Mason reiterated, scowling. "We had an agreement, Damon."

Damon raised his eyebrows. "Did we now? And what exactly was it?"

"That you wouldn't take any Klaus leads without at least one member of the NYWPD."

Damon feigned realisation. "Oh, _that _agreement." Faking regret, he continued, "Must have slipped my mind."

Mason growled. "Yeah well make sure it doesn't again."

Another mock pout. "Aww, did I make you look bad in front of your mangy, flea-ridden friends? I'm so _terribly_ sorry, Mason darling."

Mason was nearly purple in the face. "Don't push me, _Salvatore_."

"Or what, _Lockwood_?" Damon sneered. "You gonna fight me?"

"I might."

Damon gave a bark of laughter. "Yeah well good luck with that. Cos you see them," he gestured to the rest of his department who were watching intently, now with their fangs bared, "They might not like that. It'd be like," he counted in his head, "thirty of us against three of you. And it's nowhere near a full moon. You'd be dead before you could even make a fist."

Tentatively, the werewolf surveyed the room around him. Deciding that he didn't stand a chance against 30 vampires, he deflated slightly, relaxing his pose. Simultaneously, all of the vampires in the room retracted their fangs, eyes still fixed on the group of rivals in the hallway. The momentary peace was shattered, however, by Damon's next comment.

"Now get out of here, you're drooling on my carpet."

With a savage snarl, Mason lunged for Damon, meagre numbers forgotten. The raven-haired vampire seemed unaffected, stepping back slightly and using his superior strength to hurl the shorted man across the large room. He flew through several desks, snapping them in half and landing in a heap by the wall on the other side. The other two werewolves started forward, but were instantly stopped as three vampires blurred in front of them, preventing them from going to their comrade's defence. Damon was by Mason's side instantly, single eyebrow raised in derision.

"Is that _really_ the best that you can do?"

Still blinded by fury, but slightly dazed by his collision with the wall, Mason sprang up and swung wildly at his antagonist. Damon allowed the fist to pass near his face and then caught it, applying pressure until he felt a crack and heard the popping sound of bones splintering. Mason recoiled sharply, howling in pain and cradling his broken hand to his chest. Biting his lip to prevent from crying out again, he straightened his hand and winced as he allowed his bones to heal quickly. Gasping slightly, he glared up at Damon. "You broke my hand."

Damon shrugged. "You made me break my favourite desks. Now they've got slobber all over them."

Again, Mason lunged for him, but Damon was too quick. Swinging expertly, he punched Mason in the stomach twice and, as the other man doubled over in agony, brought his hand down on his back so that Mason was left lying in a crumpled heap on the floor. Damon chuckled. "Sucks to be you right now." With that, he pulled back his booted left foot and sent it into Mason's stomach. The brown-haired werewolf was lifted high and flung through the air like a weightless ragdoll. He collided with the opposite wall, sliding down it and collapsing in a crumpled heap at the bottom, moaning in pain.

Blurring over, Damon grabbed Mason by the collar and lifted him up, setting him on his feet. Mason teetered slightly and groaned. Damon rolled his eyes. "Are you going to try and attack me again? Because, frankly, I'm getting a little bored with tossing you into walls."

Mason shook his head vehemently. "_No_. No more. I've had enough. But I will get you back sometime, you mark my words."

"Yeah, yeah, sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night." Shrugging dismissively, Damon looked to the shorter man's left at a blonde woman in her early thirties. He turned back to Mason, eyebrow raised inquiringly. "Who's the bitch?" The pun elicited laughs from everyone in the room apart from the three werewolves. With a grin, Damon turned to Ric who had just come up beside him, eyes dancing with mirth. "That was pretty funny, right?"

"I certainly thought so," Alaric replied, also grinning broadly. His expression went dead serious as he saw the she-wolf's expression. Leaning over to Damon, he lowered his voice to a mock-whisper. "I don't think she found it funny though."

"No?" Damon mock-whispered back. He pretended to ponder the situation before shrugging again and returning his voice to normal pitch. "Oh well. So," he turned back to Mason, "Who is she?"

"I was just _getting_ to that," Mason replied testily. He gestured to the blonde beside him. "This is Jules. She's our newest recruit and I was hoping for a...favour."

A snort of laughter erupted from Damon's lips. "A _favour_? You've _got_ to be kidding me."

"Damon, please, don't be an ass."

Damon's eyebrows disappeared past his hairline. "I'm an ass? Me? So you come in here, insult me and my department, and still expect me to do a favour for you?"

Stubbornly, Mason tried again, "Will you do it?"

Damon pretended to think. "Um...no."

"What?" Mason asked. "Why not?"

"Well because _A_, I don't like you, and B, _what I just said_." Cutting off Mason's further protests with a wave of the hand, Damon finally turned his attention to the third werewolf. Keeping his eyes firmly fixed on the ground, the black-haired teenager was standing almost motionless, clearly embarrassed by his Superintendent's actions. Sensing eyes on him, he glanced up nervously. Damon nodded his head in recognition. "Tyler."

Tyler Lockwood nodded back. "Damon."

Damon returned his azure gaze to Mason, who had gone purple in the face, and smirked. "So, are we done here? Because I'm bored."

Desperately, Mason implored him, "Please, Damon, just hear me out." When Damon sighed resignedly and rolled his eyes he continued, "Look, I know things haven't been too good between us lately-"

Damon cut him off with a scoff. "'Haven't been too good'? Seriously? _That's _your big idea for your 'win Damon over' speech? Well nice try, but it's just not worth my time. Off you go now," he ushered the three wolves towards the door. "Go on now, _good_ doggy, that's it." Stopping on the other side of the door, Mason wheeled around sharply and opened his mouth to try again.

Damon slammed the door in his face.

ooo

Sitting in a heap on the floor of Damon's library, Elena sniffed and toyed with the fraying hem of her top. Tear tracks marked her face, dried and salty, and the sweats she had found in 'her' room were much too big for her. She hadn't done anything all day, ever since _that_ conversation, ever since Damon had stormed out of his own house, shutting the door with such force on his way out that he had cracked the frame. It had been four hours since he had left, after she had broken his heart.

Feeling a fresh wave of tears start to form at the memory, Elena shook her head to clear the moisture from her eyes. The guilt she had been feeling all day was beginning to increase as the day wore on. She felt terrible for destroying him like that, for crushing him so harshly after he had all but laid his soul before her. She felt terrible for losing a potential friend, for losing someone who would stand by her in the hard times she knew were ahead. If she didn't have Damon by her side, guiding and supporting her, then who was there to stop her from going completely off the rails?

But she had meant what she said. She wasn't ready to admit anything. She couldn't. Despite the unmistakeable connection she felt with the raven-haired vampire, she couldn't yet admit to feeling anything for him. Not when there were so many questions left unanswered. How could she ever love someone who she didn't fully understand?

_And now you never will_, the sarcastic voice inside her head piped up. _He hates you now, Elena. He'll probably always hate you._

"No, that's not true," Elena protested vehemently. She knew she was speaking out loud, but she didn't care. Who was going to listen to her anyway?

_Of course it's true, _the voice continued._ You saw his face, heard how he left. You destroyed him. You let him say those things and then you tore out his heart and trampled all over it._

Elena sniffed again. "But I didn't mean to... I'm just not ready yet."

The voice scoffed. _And when will you be? He won't wait forever, you know. He may have eternity before him but I doubt he wants to spend it waiting for you to be ready. _Elena opened her mouth in protest but the voice inside her mind continued, _And what about the rest of your family? What about Jenna and Jeremy? When will you be ready to tell them about the fact that you're a vampire? And how do you think they'll take it? What if they kick you out? Then you'll really have no one._

"Shut up! Just shut up!" the brunette screamed, hot tears beginning to stream down her face again.

The voice sneered mockingly. _Why? Because you know I'm right? Face it, Elena, this is all your fault and you know it. If you hadn't decided to turn, Damon wouldn't have had his heart broken this morning. He could have found someone else, been happy even. You took that away from him._

Tears staining her top, Elena sobbed loudly. Whilst she didn't want to believe it, she knew that the voice was right. It _was _all her fault. _She _was the one responsible for this mess. Maybe she should have just decided to die...

Glancing around desperately, Elena's tear-filled gaze alighted on a loose floorboard. Crying silently, she pulled herself off the wooden floor slightly and inched towards it. Using her strength, she grabbed it and pulled. Grasping the splinter with both hands she turned it in the direction of her heart. Her determination wavered for a second, and her hands shook, but then she remembered the look on Damon's face as she had broken his heart.

Elena made her decision.

Squeezing her eyes tightly shut, Elena silently said goodbye to Jeremy and Jenna before taking an unneeded breath and pulling her arms sharply in.

The impact never came. Startled, Elena gasped and opened her eyes. She was greeted with the sight of Damon hunched over beside her, huge splinter of wood protruding from his left bicep. Sensing her worried gaze on him, he looked over at her and sighed. "I leave you alone for a few hours and _this_," he gestured to the wood in his arm, "is what I come home to?"

**A/N: So, what did you think? Too depressing, maybe? Well I was in that kind of mood, sorry :D Please let me know your thoughts in a lovely review! R&R**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

**A/N: I'm on 40 reviews! WOOP! Honestly, I'm amazed at the response this story has gotten. I never imagined that I would get this many reviews only 5 chapters in. So thank you all for taking the time to share your views with me, I love every single one of you :) R&R**

Elena opened and closed her mouth like a fish. She had expected Damon to yell at her, to ignore her, even to let her kill herself. But not _this_. She hadn't expected him to come home and make jokes as if their conversation four hours ago had never happened. Mouth hanging open, it took her a minute to find her words. "D...Damon..."

"Yes," he agreed. "That is my name. Is there a point to this?"

Elena was even more flabbergasted than before. "I...I...but you...don't you...I..." She flapped her arms nervously, her vocabulary failing her yet again. Shaking her head, she tried again, "Why aren't you...don't you...I...I don't..." Try as she might, she couldn't seem to form a coherent sentence. His apathy had shocked her so much that she was rendered basically speechless.

Damon quirked an eyebrow. "Use your words, Elena, use your words. Awesome, sexy and talented though I may be, I haven't quite mastered telepathy yet. I'm afraid I don't understand grunts and gestures either."

"Don't you want to talk?" The question came out rushed, and Elena heaved a sigh of relief at the end.

Damon's expression remained carefully neutral. "About what?"

A groan of exasperation fell from Elena's lips. "You know what I'm talking about, Damon. Don't make this harder for me than it already is."

"_Oh_, you mean you want to talk about the fact that I made the mistake of showing you my humanity and you basically threw it all back in my face." He shrugged indifferently. "There's nothing to talk about."

"Yes there is," Elena spluttered. "You can't keep all your feeling bottled up inside you like this. You need to talk about it, hell you can even yell at me if you want." The brunette dragged a hand through her hair. "You can't just cast your emotions aside like this."

Instantly, Damon's face hardened, all traces of teasing and indifference vanished from his chiselled features. "I said," he repeated evenly, "there is _nothing _to talk about." When Elena shrank back a little he visibly relaxed. "What I do want to talk about, however, is this." Grimacing, he grabbed Elena's makeshift stake and yanked it out of his arm. The tip of the splinter began to drip blood onto the wooden floor.

"I-" Elena began.

Damon cut her off. "What the hell were you thinking, Elena?"

Elena scoffed, her earlier inarticulateness forgotten. "What was _I _thinking?" She shrugged, spreading her arms wide. "I don't know, maybe that you _hate _me now, and that it's all my fault. You were the _one _person I could count on, and I screwed it up." Chocolate eyes met ice blue ones as she sighed. "What's the point in carrying on?"

A sigh. "I don't hate you, Elena." Damon gently set the bloody splinter on the floor, inching closer to where the brunette sat huddled. With gentle hands he brushed a lock of her hair back from her face. "I could never _hate_ you. I just...need some time."

The young vampire glanced up at him through tear-stained lashes. "You don't hate me?"

Damon shook his head. "Never." With a slight groan, he stood up, picking up the stake and staring intently at the gaping hole in the wooden floor. His brow furrowed as he nudged the opening with the toe of his boot and fished the library key out of the pocket of his dark jeans. He gestured to Elena with his head. "Come on."

Sniffling a little, Elena picked herself up off the floor with slight hesitation. "Where are we going?"

A dazzling smile was thrown in her direction. "The kitchen, come on."

As Elena followed Damon out of the Salvatore library, she watched, startled, as the raven haired vampire pulled the door shut and locked it, returning the key to his pocket. "What are you doing? Why are you locking it?"

Another smile, this time more strained. "I think we've seen enough of the library for a while."

Before Elena could splutter a reply he was gone, disappearing down the dark corridors of his huge house. The brunette was left standing uselessly in front of the locked door for a few seconds, gazing after Damon's back. As the lights flickered on she flinched, remembering where she was and hurrying down the hallway after her mentor. Wandering into the kitchen, she gasped in amazement.

The room was furnished in a sleek, modern design; with marble-topped dark wood counters and every cooking utensil imaginable hanging on the walls or stored in open cabinets. _Did Damon do this all himself? _Elena wondered.

The object of her thoughts had by now disposed of the makeshift stake and was leaning nonchalantly against the island in the middle of the kitchen. Eyes wide, Elena turned to him. "Did you do all of this yourself?"

A nod. "I told you, I designed the whole house."

"But, why?" Elena asked, confused. "Surely you have no need for a kitchen."

Damon raised an eyebrow. "Just because I don't need to eat human food, doesn't mean I don't like to. And besides," he wandered over to Elena, stopping by her side and picking up a wooden spoon. "I'll have you know I'm an excellent cook."

"You cook?" Elena's amazement increased. "Is there anything you _can't _do?"

Damon twirled the spoon contemplatively, pretending to be deep in thought. "Um...no." His reply seemed serious, but the mirth dancing in his eyes gave him away.

Brown eyes rolled skyward as Elena shoved him slightly, grabbing the spoon from his hands and returning it to the counter. "Yeah, right. Cocky much?"

Damon smirked devilishly. "_Very_ much."

Heaving a sigh, Elena mock-frowned at Damon and slapped him on the arm. "Oh shut up. Now who's being inappropriate and sexual?"

An expression of outrage was given, and Damon gasped theatrically. However his retort was cut off by the frantic buzzing of his phone, which he pulled out of his pocket with a small noise of irritation. He brought it to his ear. "What?"

The voice on the other end of the line, which Elena recognised as belonging to Damon's colleague Alaric, sighed resignedly, evidently used to this kind of behaviour from the Salvatore. _"It's nice to speak to you too, Damon."_

Damon rolled his eyes. "Haven't you got anything better to do than interrupting me at all moments of the day?"

Another sigh from Alaric. _"Mason came back after you left. He was making idle threats, like he usually does, so I kicked him out again. But they've just pulled up outside. He's brought Richard with him."_

"Seriously?" Damon replied, annoyance colouring his tone. "_Fine_, I'll be over in," he checked the clock on the wall, "fifteen minutes."

"_I'll try and stall them."_

Damon hung up the phone, returning it to his pocket with a sigh. "I _hate_ that stupid mangy mutt." With that, he turned on his heel and strode determinedly out of the kitchen.

Elena, who had been watching the whole phone conversation in bewilderment, called after him, "Wait, Damon, what's going on?"

The older vampire stuck his head round the door, eyeing her tiredly. "It's a long story, and I have to go."

He made to leave again but Elena stopped him. "Wait, you can't just _leave_ me here!"

Damon's shoulders sagged slightly. Grabbing his leather jacket from the counter nearest the door, he shrugged it on and turned to face her again. "Get dressed, we're going to work."

ooo

"Hey, Damon, get off." Elena glared at her housemate as he all but dragged her from his car and down the hallways of the New York Vampire Police Department. As they passed through the double doors and into the part of the precinct she recognised, all of the officers sitting at their desks rose to greet their Superintendent.

A tall, sandy haired man who Elena assumed must be Alaric joined them. He eyed Elena curiously. "What are you doing?"

"Haven't you heard," Damon intoned with a hint of irritation, "it's 'bring your annoying housemate to work' day." As they reached the holding cell Elena had been kept in last time she had been in the police department he released her arm to unlock the door, before grabbing it again and shoving the small brunette inside.

Elena gasped with indignation. "Hey, what are you-"

The rest of her reply was cut off as Damon slammed the door in her face. He heaved a sigh of relief, turning to Alaric. "Thank _god _for soundproof rooms. Now, where is _dear_ Mr. Lockwood?"

Looking at the soundproof holding cell one last time, the taller vampire gestured towards the Superintendent's office, where a dark-haired man sat with his back to the door. "In your office. I tried to keep him outside, but he wouldn't listen and I didn't want to start an argument." He paused for a moment before smirking slightly. "Mason took off as soon as he heard I'd phoned you."

The corners of Damon's mouth curled upwards. "Thanks, Ric. I guess I'd better go see what the wolves want _this _time." With that, they two men walked away, ignoring the sight of Elena slamming her hands against the cell door with frustration behind them.

ooo

"Hello, Richard." Damon sauntered into his office, shutting the door behind him.

The werewolf Chief of Police swivelled in his seat. "Damon."

The vampire wandered further into the room, mindlessly straightening papers on his desk. He flopped into his new chair and propped his legs on the glass desk. "Please," he said, sarcasm dripping from every word, "sit down."

Richard appeared unfazed. "I'm here to speak to you about the..._incident_ that happened earlier today."

Damon lifted his eyebrows skyward in mock thought. "Incident...incident...Oh," he snapped his fingers as if the answer had just come to him, "you mean the little_ altercation _I had with your little brother?" He chuckled sardonically. "It was just a little discussion between acquaintances. Think nothing of it."

"Yes well you see," the werewolf leaned forward and steepled his fingers, "I can't do that. My department has always had an agreement with the NYVPD that our two units will work well together without any hostility from either side. You broke that rule today."

Damon arched an eyebrow and scoffed again, removing his feet from the desk and mirroring Richard's position. "You're trying to pin the blame for this on _me_? Your _brother_ was the one who strutted in here looking for a fight." He smirked. "I just showed him what a bad idea that was."

"Don't make me angry, Damon. You never know what I might do."

The raven haired vampire slammed his palms on the desk and blurred to his feet. "Is that a challenge?"

Having heard Damon's terse exchange with the dark haired werewolf, the whole vampire department had risen to their feet, watching the pair through the glass that lined Damon's office. Richard eyed them warily and shook his head. "No, it's not." He sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. "Look, Damon, I just want our two departments to get along."

Damon snorted. "Tell that to your aggressive _dick _of a brother."

Richard rolled his eyes at the profanity but nodded. "I will try to control my brother, but in turn you must promise that you will not," he paused, choosing his words carefully, "deliberately aggravate him. And the same goes for the rest of your department. It seems to me that much of the conflict between the werewolves and the vampires has been started by you. So do we have an agreement?" He held out his hand expectantly.

Damon clenched his fists but decided not to respond to the accusation. Blatantly ignoring the proffered hand he responded airily, "If you have a problem with the way this department is run, you should see Elijah." He smiled cruelly. "I'm sure he'd be _more _than happy to listen to your complaint."

The werewolf gulped, pulling at the collar of his shirt. "No, thank you." He withdrew his outstretched hand.

Damon gave an abrupt nod. "I thought as much." Striding purposefully over to his office door, he pulled it open. "I think we're done here." He paused in the doorway, turning his head slightly. "You can show yourself out."

ooo

Frustrated, Elena slumped to the floor of her cell, which she had finally worked out was soundproof. She had watched the argument between Damon and a man she didn't recognise through one of the room's windows, unable to hear anything or discern what was going on. Needless to say she had tried to break one of the windows and escape that way, but both they and the cell door were indestructible. Confused and exhausted, she gave up struggling and decided to wait until someone came to collect her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the door being pushed open. Immediately she was on her feet, but to her dismay it was not Damon who entered, but a blonde she didn't recognise. The woman lifted a hand in greeting. "Hey."

"Who are you?"

The blonde raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "Wow, nice to meet you too." When Elena didn't smile she rolled her eyes good-naturedly and gestured to herself. "I'm Lexi. And you must be Elena Gilbert."

Elena frowned. "How do you know my name?"

"Well you don't beat about the bush, do you?" Lexi's smile grew impossibly wider. "I work here."

Elena's chocolate eyes widened. "So you're a..."

"_Vampire_?" Lexi supplied in a whisper, and then laughed. "It's not such a bad word, you know."

That mollified Elena slightly, and she allowed the corner of her mouth to curl up in a half-smile. "Why are you here?"

The blonde vampire had the decency to look apologetic. "Well I'm not _supposed_ to be here, but you looked lonely, and I figured you could use the company. Besides," she winked conspiratorially at the petite brunette, "you look like you have a _lot_ of questions."

Elena nodded, grateful that _someone_ was making an effort to include her in the proceedings. "I do. First of all, who the hell was that man? And what did he want? And why did Damon look so angry? And secondly, who is Klaus? Why is he so important to all of you?"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down, I can only answer one question at a time. Well first of all," Lexi mimicked, earning another small smile from Elena, "that was Richard Lockwood, Chief of Police of the Werewolf Police Department. He wanted to talk to Damon about a little argument he had with Richard's brother, Mason, earlier today; and he made Damon so angry because of this stupid age-old feud between the vampire and werewolf departments." She shrugged. "It's stupid, really."

This time it was Elena who chuckled. "_Feud_? Seriously? You realise that this is the 21st Century, right? No one says feud anymore."

Lexi scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Well _sorry_ for being brought up in the 19th Century. I can't help it if I have manners and you don't."

Elena stuck her tongue out in response and the pair laughed together for a comfortable minute. As their mirth subsided, Elena couldn't help but glance longingly at the door to the cell, which Lexi had left ajar. As the blonde began to say something else, Elena saw an opportunity for her escape. Satisfied that the older vampire was distracted, she made her move, using her superior speed to run out of the room and down the precinct hallway, sights set on the double doors at the other end.

Just as they were within touching distance, she felt someone slam into her side and pin her up against the wall by her throat, high enough so that her feet were off the ground. She struggled, but to no avail; her attacker's hand held fast.

"Easy, easy." Damon crooned derisively into her ear. "Going somewhere?"

Elena snorted, spluttering a little when Damon squeezed her throat a little tighter. "Yes, actually."

"Oh," Damon raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow in curiosity, relaxing his stance slightly. "And where might that be?"

"Away from _you_!" Elena took advantage of Damon's relaxed posture to wrench his hand from her throat and shove the stronger vampire against the opposite wall, resuming her frantic bid for freedom.

She was stopped, however, by strong arms around her waist. Damon looked at her, a touch of exasperation in his cerulean gaze. "_Please _stop doing that."

Elena looked at him scornfully. "Or _what_? You'll lock me up in a cell for the rest of my life so I won't try to escape or worse, _kill_ myself again?" She huffed. "Well you've already failed twice."

Instantly, Damon's face hardened. "Fine," he snapped. "You want to do it the hard way, fine." So saying, he threw Elena over his shoulder and sped downstairs to his waiting car, ignoring the brunette's screams and violent protests. Scowling, he threw Elena in the back seat and started the engine, pulling out of the underground car park and making a sharp right turn, so that Elena was tossed across the car as he did so.

Fuming, the brunette sat up, fixing her hair and rubbing her shoulder where it had collided with the car door. "You can't do this."

Ice blue eyes flicked to the rear-view mirror. "Watch me."

Elena made a noise of exasperation. "This is kidnapping!"

"Well that's a little melodramatic, don't you think?"

A scowl. "You're not funny. Where are you taking me?"

Damon turned his head slightly, smirking sardonically at her. "It's a surprise, _princess_." The term of endearment was clearly meant to irritate.

It worked. Elena's scowl deepened, and she crossed her arms across her chest, regarding the back of Damon's head with pure venom. "Well what's to stop me getting out of the car right now?"

"Uh, the _sun_," Damon supplied in a 'duh' tone. "I mean, you could try it, of course, but you'd be vampire barbecue the second you stuck your pretty little head outside."

To Elena's great dismay, he was right. The young vampire stared out of the window wistfully. She was protected inside the Camaro, sure, but as soon as she tried to leave while the sun was still out she was as good as dead. Groaning in frustration, she began to lean back in her seat, when an idea struck her.

"I have to pee."

Damon's laugh rumbled through the car. "Nice try, princess. You're dead, remember?"

Another groan. "Ugh you suck. And _stop _calling me princess."

"Whatever you like, _sweetheart_."

"I hate you."

The raven haired vampire chuckled bitterly. "The feeling is completely mutual, don't worry." As an afterthought, he paused for a second and then added, "_princess_."

Elena growled in rage, kicking out with her Converse-clad feet. They connected with the back of Damon's chair, pushing him forward and causing the Camaro to swerve violently along the road. Several passing cars honked their horns loudly in protest, the disgruntled drivers trying their best to avoid the out-of-control vehicle.

This time it was Damon who growled, righting himself and getting his beloved car back under control. His expression thunderous, he pulled the car right sharply, causing Elena to gasp. Killing the engine, he wheeled around to face the brunette. "You stupid _bitch_!" he shouted, so loudly that Elena flinched. "Do you _want _to get us killed? Damn it," he growled, "you leave me with no choice."

"What are you-" Elena began, but the rest of her reply was cut off as Damon reached into the glove compartment faster than she could process, pulled out a suspiciously large syringe and plunged it into her leg. She barely had time to process what was happening, only vaguely registering the car pulling out of the parking space, before everything faded into black

ooo

"_Elena, wake up."_

Moaning quietly, Elena sat up and rubbed her head. The last thing she remembered was being in the car with Damon, arguing with him, and him stabbing her in the leg with something. Keeping her eyes squeezed shut; she asked hoarsely, "What happened?"

"Damon vervained you. Which was _really _mean, if you ask me. As I've said to him many times, every problem can be resolved with a nice, quiet talk and some good alcohol."

Frowning at the unfamiliar and very perky voice, Elena tentatively opened her eyes. Bright light invaded her eyes and she winced, turning her head away. As she became accustomed to the glow, she inspected the room she was in. The walls were painted white to match the floor, which gave out to bay windows which displayed the glittering New York skyline. The rest of the room, Elena noted with some dislike, was furnished in various shades of the same, annoying colour. Pink.

The carpet was pink, the desk was pink, the laptop on it was pink, even the armchair Elena was sitting on was pale pink. Pulling her gaze away from the pink room, the brunette took her first look at the owner of the spirited voice she had heard. In the magenta armchair across from her sat a cheerful-looking blonde; dressed, Elena was pleased to note, not in pink but in a pastel blue dress and navy heels. The blonde noticed Elena's curious stare and smiled broadly. "Hi!"

"Um...hi. Who are you?"

"Gets to the point quickly." Pulling a pencil from behind her ear, the blonde began to make notes on a clipboard that Elena hadn't even noticed she had but observed, with distaste, was also pink. Placing her pencil down far too happily, the blonde looked up. "Caroline Forbes, pleased to meet you."

Remembering some manners, Elena nodded. "You...you too. I'm...uh..."

"Elena Gilbert," Caroline supplied with a smile. "Damon already filled me in on everything when he brought you here."

Brown eyes widened in disbelief. "_Damon_ brought me here?"

Caroline scoffed, addressing Elena as if she were a child. "Or course, silly. But then I suppose you were too doped up on vervain to notice what was going on."

"Vervain? What's vervain?"

"Doesn't know about vervain," Caroline scribbled on her clipboard. "It's a herb that's harmful to vampires, which can be either used dry or injected through a syringe. Which is most likely how Damon gave it to you."

"I remember Damon having a syringe," Elena reminisced. "That must have been..." she tailed off. "How long was I out?"

Caroline checked the pink clock on the wall. "Three hours, give or take. The stuff he gave you was fairly mild, but you're young, so..."

The brunette nodded in understanding, and the pair lapsed into silence, with the ticking of the clock the only sound in the room. _Only sound_, Elena thought to herself. _But that means_...

"Are you a vampire?"

"Inquisitive," the blonde added to her notes. Looking up at Elena, she replied, "Yeah, I am."

Elena straightened up in her chair. "Okay, can you stop doing that?" At the blonde vampire's confused expression she explained, "Reading your notes out loud like that. It's annoying. And why are you even making notes about me anyway?"

Caroline raised an eyebrow. "Oh, Damon didn't tell you? I'm a therapist, specialising in all kinds of supernatural clients. I'm one of the best in this building," she announced proudly, beaming cheerily at Elena.

"A therapist?" Elena asked incredulously. "He brought me to see a therapist? _That_ was his big surprise? Well I'm _not _staying." Leaping out of her chair, she sped towards the door, pulling frenetically on the door handle.

"You can keep doing that all day," Caroline remarked from behind her. "The door's spelled shut, it won't budge unless you use the key. So are the windows," she added when the brunette spun around slowly and gazed at the glass across the room. "So you're stuck with me until this session's over, which is in like an hour and a half. And believe me, time passes _really _slowly when you have all of eternity ahead of you."

Glowering at the energetic blonde, Elena stalked over to her vacated armchair and collapsed into it, glaring at the floor with her arms tightly folded across her chest.

Caroline leaned forward. "Are you going to be like that for the _whole_ session? Because if you are, I have better things to do than sit here and stare at your grumpy face for ninety minutes. Just talk to me," she encouraged, "you'd be surprised how much it actually helps."

Elena glanced up through her lashes. "As long as you promise not to write anything else about me."

The blonde looked about to disagree, but thought better of it and placed her clipboard and pencil on the floor. "Done."

"And I get to ask you questions as well. About your life."

Caroline nodded. "Okay."

Elena matched her gesture, uncrossing her arms and straightening her posture. "Okay. How do you know Damon?"

"He helped me adjust to life as a vampire when I turned, and helped my mom accept me for who I am."

"When was this?"

The blonde considered it. "Seven years ago. I was eighteen when I turned. Of course," she continued, "I've done other favours for him since."

Curiosity piqued, Elena continued her line of enquiry. "Which were...?"

Caroline laughed. "You sure ask a _lot _of questions. He," here she paused, unsure of whether to reveal this information. Seeing Elena's determined expression, she continued hesitantly. "He was a patient of mine, a few years ago, actually, after..."

"After what?"

"I said too much. I _always_ do this," Caroline murmured to herself. She sighed. "After his brother left."

"So that's who the room belongs to," Elena mused.

Caroline cocked her head. "What?"

Elena shook her head. "It's not important. Why did he leave?"

"No," Caroline refused, sitting up straighter in her chair. "That's Damon's story to tell you when and _if _he wants to. I've said too much already. Now," she clapped her hands together, "enough about me, what about you?"

Elena shrugged. "There's nothing much to tell. I've known Damon for about three days, and he most likely hates me already. But I'm not telling you why," she hastened to add just as Caroline began to open her mouth.

The blonde pouted. "Please? I promise I won't tell anyone."

Chocolate eyes rolled skyward. "Fine, but you have to _swear_ not to tell anybody." Satisfied with Caroline's nod, Elena continued, "He...he told me he had feelings for me and I practically slammed the door in his face."

Caroline inclined her head in understanding. "How did that make you feel?"

Elena shrugged. "I don't know...I felt guilty at first, actually I still do," she admitted, "but there's also a part of me that's angry with him, and I don't even know why."

"I think you're angry because you're scared," Caroline intoned sagely. "I think Damon's declaration of his feelings surprised and intimidated you, because it was so sudden and unexpected, so you did the only thing you could and turned him down, because you weren't ready to reciprocate his feelings. I think you're attracted to him, and don't even _try_ to deny it, but you're not ready to take that next step yet."

Elena chuckled softly. "That was...surprisingly insightful."

"I know, wasn't it?" Caroline agreed happily. "You know Elena," she proclaimed, leaning back in her armchair, "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

**A/N: So, how was it? Sorry this is so late, I've had MASSIVE writer's block, as those of you who have read my one-shot 'Guns and Horses' will know, but I was off school today with a cold, cough and killer headache and felt randomly inspired to finish this chapter. Hope you enjoy it, and press that beautiful blue button to let me know your thoughts. ANYONE WHO SPOTS QUOTES FROM THE SHOW GETS A SHOUTOUT NEXT CHAPTER! R&R**


End file.
